PharmTech International, Producer of OCM Global for Cattle Feed, Reopens Under New Ownership

More Than 2 Million Pounds of OCM Digestive Supplement to Cattle Feed Sold Last Year

DES MOINES — PharmTech International, producer of OCM Global nutritional supplement for cattle, has reopened its two animal feed plants, located here and in Westside, under new ownership.

PharmTech last year sold more than 2 million pounds of OCM Global, a non-medicated proprietary blend of minerals that has been credited with digestive support in beef production for many years, said Steve Hartung, operations manager.

“OCM Global works by supporting nutrient digestibility and efficient rumen fermentation, as well as maximizing feed intake, which in turn promotes efficient weight gain,” he said. “It is an essential part of the feeding phase for incoming cattle, growing cattle and finishing cattle.”

In addition to continuing production of the OCM Global nutritional supplement and providing custom livestock feed manufacturing and pelleting, PharmTech will produce proprietary animal nutrition products and fertilizers developed by its new owners, an Idaho family that has been in the animal feed business for four generations.

“We are very pleased to be operating again,” added Hartung. “The new owners have been in the livestock feed business even longer than we have. Our combined knowledge of animal feed should be of tremendous benefit to our customers.”

“We are proud to be able to reopen a company that has been a major player in animal feed and nutrition for decades,” said Callie Novak, vice president of operations for Dynamite Marketing, Inc., which purchased the mills. “We share the same dedication to animal health, and the acquisition of the mill will make it easier for us to serve our customers in the Midwest and Eastern United States.

“Our family has been in the animal feed business since my great-grandparents came to Idaho in the early 1900s and our roots are in healthy feed for horses and livestock,” Novak said. “In fact, our horse supplement was so far ahead of its time that we have recently seen other companies use some of our original feed technology and introduce it as ‘new’ — 20 years after we first introduced it.”

Dynamite’s growth in the Midwest and on the East Coast has lagged behind growth in the West, primarily because shipping costs were a deterrent. Production in Iowa is expected to change that, Novak said.

In addition to animal feeds and nutritional supplements, the mills will produce products for TerraLife, Dynamite Marketing’s sister company and distributor of the Dr. JimZ Secret Formula Save-a-Tree fertilizer and related products.